My name is Brandon, I’m a senior in ODLH. I didn’t do so good my 9th and 10th grade and changed my grades my junior and my last year of high school. It wasn’t enough for me to attend a Cal state or a UC. I am going to attend community college and hopefully transfer out to a 4-year. The only thing that so far is going to stop me from doing that is money. I currently live with my mom and dad but its like if I were to live with my mom only. My dad is not very supportive he’s not really there for me as a father all he does is pay rent. I am very worried since he sometimes doesn’t come home thinking he left my family or something that I wont be able to attend college for financial reasons. My father is not reliable and does not pay bills and is always late on due dates. For this reason I would like to know what I am able to do attend college without going to much into debt. My mother does not make enough to pay for my tuition and since i was not the brightest student and have no support from my dad to pay anything for college I would like to know what I can do.
Do you qualify for Cal Grants ? You need to talk to your GC about making sure that you maintain your Cal Grant eligibility for after you transfer from a CC. You need to do that now.
Have your mom help you fill out FAFSA for this coming fall.
I’ve filled out the FAFSA last week but I do not qualify for Cal grants.
Sorry, but federal and CA financial aid is based on the income of the parent(s) that you live with. So if you don’t qualify for anything you don’t get anything. If you lived with your mom only, then your aid is based on her income. So if he does leave there is that. But right now you are going to be full pay for the CC. Until you are 24, married, military or a few other things your parents income is the main thing your aid is based on.
Maybe you should start thinking about being and Independent Student. Divorce both parents and go rent a room from a relative and apply for Financial Aid as an Independent Student.
^ @Psata82…please don’t offer advice that is wrong. Everything you said is not an option. Sheesh.
^ Please don’t spread incorrect information. The test for FAFSA independence is very structured:
Psata82, please get your facts straight before you offer inaccurate advice which is not helpful.
“Divorcing” both parents is called emancipation, and it is very serious business, and very difficult to obtain without a VERY good reason…and it must be done prior to the 18th birthday for it to matter for financial aid purposes.
The student would need to demonstrate a really good reason for this. Usually this is something like abandonment, abuse, student being homeless without parents around at all…or some equally horrible family situation.
This student has two parents, and a home with them. I can’t imagine that he/she would qualify for emancipation at all.
Not having enough money to help a child pay for college is NOT a reason emancipation would be granted. Not wanting to pay for college is not a reason for emancipation.
The use of the word “divorce” was a bad choice of word. What I’m suggesting is that the OP start to think about being an Independent Student after he turns 18. It is my understanding that as long as either parent does not claim the student as a dependent on their Federal/State Income Tax return and the child does not live with or receive “support” from either parent, then that student can claim independent status.
I was an Independent Student throughout my 4-years of College and received the maximum amount of both Federal and State Financial Aid. I was 18 when I started College.
Psata82, did you even read post # 6?
Psata82. The poster can’t think about being independent for financial aid purposes until the year he turns 24.
Those are the rules per FAFSA.
And if this student starts college dependent on parents for financial aid (which he would be now), in some cases, that status doesn’t change until the student graduates.
Please…read the requirements for independent status. It is not an easy status for an under 24 year old student to get. In the very very vast majority of cases, parent income and assets are required for undergrad students.
I don’t know when you went to undergrad college…but you have a masters and a MBA…and two college age kids, I believe. This suggests that you went to undergrad school some time ago. Back in the day, it was easier to attain independent student status. Those days are gone, and the requirements for this status are much more difficult to achieve, plus are scrutinized much more carefully now.
Your independent status about 20 years ago…or more…has no bearing on the requirements now. It’s just bad and inaccurate advice NOW.
This student did not mention that he satisfies any of the criteria for becoming independent…not one.
@Psata82 NO…an 18 year old can’t become independent like you suggested. If all it took was to have parents not claim you on taxes, all parents would do that so that their kids could get more money.
Other posters have told you how wrong you are. Stop posting bad advice.
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It is my understanding that as long as either parent does not claim the student as a dependent on their Federal/State Income Tax return and the child does not live with or receive "support" from either parent, then that student can claim independent status. <<<<
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You made up your own 'understanding" out of whole cloth.
Unless you fear for your safety, emancipation is probably a bad idea. Among other things, you’d need to get off their health insurance, move out, and pay rent, etc
I know this sounds trite but, get a job and cover the costs yourself. If you can continue to live with your parents, a CC won’t cost more than $2500 a year. Tuition at a CSU is about $7k. The total bill will be around $20k. So, you’d need to make more than $5k per year after taxes. You should be able to do that working just 10 hours a week. Call it 20 if you want to transfer to a UC.
That’s not too big of an imposition… and will reward you with a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.
Home Depot is hiring 80,000 people right now.
God luck.